Warp tension control for looms



July 5, 1949. J. D. SKEER E TAL WARE-TENSION CONTROL; Fonmous Filed June 18, 194? Inventors John D. Skeer', I Oscar- 1.. Russell,

Ezekiel J. Wilson @Z Their Miter-neg- Patented July 5, 1949 I WARP TENSION CONTROL FOR LOOMS John D. Skeer, Nassau, Oscar L. Russell, Altamont, and Ezekiel J Wilson, Slingerlands, N. Y., assignors to F. C. Huyck & Sons, Rensselaer, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application June 18, 1947, Serial No. 755,358

2 Claims. (01.139-104) Our invention relates to the art of weaving and particularly to a new means for controlling the tension on the warp threads in a loom where said threads are formed of non-stretching material such as glass fibers, metals and the like.

In the weaving of fabrics having a warp of this character it is very essential that a uniform tension be maintained on all of the warp threads. In fabrics having warp threads formed of vegetable, animal or other fibers which are capable of being stretched to some degree, the ordinary warp-making machinery winds such threads on the warp beam with sufficient accuracy to allow the loom to form a satisfactory woven fabric therefrom. However, when the warp threads are of such a material that they are incapable of being stretched. there is no warp-making machinery available, of which we are aware, which is adapted to wind a warp of suitable width with sufficient accuracy to assure an absolutely uniform tension thereon when they are drawn from the beam in the usual manner.

The principal object of our invention is to provide an improvement in loo'ms whereby all of the warp threads, when formed of glass fibers, metal or other non-stretchable material, may be maintained under uniform tension during the weaving process. Another object is to provide a warp tension control means of such design that it may be applied to substantially any loom and thus adapt said loom to weave fabrics having warp threads of non-stretchable material.

We accomplish these objects by means of the novel elements and the combinations and arrangements thereof described below and illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which Fig. 1 is a fragmentary, schematic, perspective view of a loom embodying our invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation view of a detail showing a slight modification in the mechanism; and

Fig. 3 is a front elevation thereof.

Referring to the drawings- We replace the ordinary warp beam of the loom with a roll I, hereinafter referred to as a first roll, having a composition covering 2 thereon which is adapted frictio'nally to engage the warp threads when said threads are maintained in contact with a substantial portion of the periphery of said roll. Parallel to and in contact with the roll I is a second smaller roll 3 .which'is mounted on a stationary shaft 4. A

third roll 5 ismounted on a shaft 6 which is 4 2 the shaft 4, as shown at 8. Thus, the roll 5 is held by gravity against the surface of the roll I.

9 represents the spools of a creel and, while only three spools are shown, it is to be understood that there are as many spools on the creel as there are warp threads II). The warp threads I0 run from the creel over the roll 5, downwardly around the roll I and upwardly over the roll 3 and, the rolls 3 and 5 are so disposed with respect to the roll I as to obtain as much wrap of the warp threads Ill around the roll I as is possible so that slippage of the warp threads Ill on the surface of the roll I is prevented. The roll I may be turned by the tension on the warp threads or mechanically by any suitable mechanism. In the drawing we have shown a typical mechanical let-off for looms which is not new per se and as to which, per se, no claim is made.

After the warp threads leave the roll 3 they are carried to the harness 50 over a balance or scale roll II, hereinafter referred to as a fourth roll, which is mounted to oscillate about the axis of a-shaft I2 mounted in bearings I3. It will be apparent from Fig. 1, that tension on the warp threads Ill will tend to oscillate scale roll II in a clockwise direction about the axis of the shaft I2, and the tendency of the scale roll to oscillate clockwise, due to tension on the threads III, is counterbalanced by the lever I4 which is fixed to the shaft I2 and from the free end of which is suspended a rod I5 carrying weights I6.

When the loom is running, a shaft I! having a crank arm I8 thereon rotates constantly so that the link I9 which is pivotally connected to the crank I8, as shown at 20, moves up and down. The up and down movements of the link I9 oscillate the crank, 2| by means of the pin 22 which passes through the slot 23 in the crank 2|. The crank 2| is fixed to the 'quill shaft 24 having an enlarged end 32 to which, the crank 25 carrying pawl shaft 26 is, attached. At its free end, the shaft 26 has rotatably mounted thereon, the pawl 21 which cooperates with ratchet wheel 28 and is normally held in engagement with the teeth of the ratchet wheel 28 by means of the helical spring 29. The ratchet wheel 28 is mounted on a shaft 30, the end 3| of which is rotatably mounted in the enlarged end 32 of the shaft 24 as a bearing. Also secured to the ratchet wheel 28 and coaxial with the shaft 30 is a shaft 33 having a worm 34 thereon which cooperates with a worm wheel 35 on the shaft 36 to which the roll I is secured. Thus, when the worm 34 rotates, it turns the roll I in a 3 counter-clockwise direction as indicated by the arrow 31 on the end of roll I.

Mounted to oscillate on the shaft 33 is an arm 33 carrying an arcuate shoe is which extends partially around and in close proximity to the teeth Of the ratchet wheel 23. Referring to Fig. 2, it will be apparent that when the shoe 39 is moved in the direction of the arrow 40 so that the end 4I thereof is moved into the position shown in dotted outline at 42, it will raise the pawl 21 to the position shown in dotted outline at 21' and out of engagement with the teeth on ratchet wheel 23.

As illustrated in Fig. 1, the pawl 21 is in engagement with the ratchet wheel 23 so that, the rotation of shaft ll will cause the pawl to drive the ratchet wheel and thus to drive the roll I through the mechanism described above.

In order to stop the rotation of the roll I in the event that the tension. of the warp threads It falls below a predetermined limit, a slotted crank 43 is fixed to the shaft l2 and a pin M secured to the element 45 rides in said slot. A link 46 which is secured to the element 45 may be slotted at its lower end, as shown at 41, to receive a pin 48 which is secured to the shoe 39.

When the tension of the warpthreads I is reduced so that the scale roll ll oscillates about the axis of the shaft I2 in a counter-clockwise direction due to the weights IS on the lever I, the crank 43 will rise thus lifting the link 46, moving the shoe 39 under the pawl 21, and stop ping the rotation of the roll I. As the tension on the threads l0 increases, the scale roll II will oscillate in a clockwise direction, thus reversing the movement of the shoe 39 and allowing the pawl 21 to drop down into engagement with the ratchet wheel 28 and efiect a rotation of the roll I in a counter-clockwise direction.

As shown in the drawing, the teeth on ratchet wheel 28 are comparatively coarse and the operation of the device has been described above as though the scale roll ll oscillates through a substantial arc. In practice, however, the ratchet teeth are comparatively fine, and the mechanism isso adjusted that comparatively slight oscillating movements of the scale roll will put the mechanism for rotating roll Iv into or outof operation. Thus, since there is no stretch in the warp yarns the tension thereon is maintained practically constant.

While we have described our invention in its preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the words which we have used are words of description rather than of limitation and that changes within the purview of the appended claims, may be made without departing from the true scope and spirit of our invention in its broader aspects.

What we claim is:

1. In a warp tension control for a loom, the

combination with a first roll, of a multiplicity of separate spools each carrying a single warp thread only and from which said spools said warp threads are carried around said roll, a second and a third roll cooperating with said warp threads and the surface of at least one of said second and third rolls frictionally cooperating with the surface of said first roll for holding said threads in contact with the surface of said first roll; whereby said threads will be drawn from said spools by the rotation of said first roll; a fourth roll over and in contact with the surface of which said threads are carried to said loom, a mounting for said fourth roll providingan axis disposed below said fourth roll and about which said axis said fourth roll may be oscillated bythe tension on said threads, means for rotating said first roll to draw said threads from said spools, and means controlled by the oscillation of said fourth roll and operable when the tension on said threads is in excess of a predetermined limit for putting said rotating means in operation.

r 2. In a loom for weaving a fabric having warp threads of a character which are substantially non-extensible when subjected to the normal tension applied thereto in said weaving, the combination with a multiplicity of separate spools each carrying a single warp thread only; of a first roll having a surface adapted frictionally to grip said threads; 9. second roll having its surface in frictional contact with the surface of said first roll, whereby it is adapted to be driven thereby, and over which said second roll and between the pinch of said rolls said threads run from said spools; a scale roll over which said threads pass to said loom after passing around a substantial portion of the peripheral surface of said first roll; a mounting on which said scale roll may oscillate; said scale roll and mounting being so constructed and arranged that the oscillations thereof are controlled by the tension on said warp threads; means for rotating said first roll, and means actuated by the oscillating movement of said scale roll when the tensionon said warp threads is in excess of a predetermined maximum for putting said rotating means into operation.

JOHN D. SKEER. OSCAR L. RUSSELL EZEKIEL J. WILSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,454,767 Porter May 8, 1923 1,455,048 Hall May 15, 1923 1,781,817 Kenyon Nov. 18, 1930 1,822,696 Giardino Sept. 8, 1931 2,250,833 Hill July 29, 1941 

